I know what you must be thinking. How can I get help for my troubled teen?
How can I discover a better path for troubled teens?
We, at Eagle Ranch Academy, understand what that is like.
We are parents and we have been there, too.
Many of our staff have been in your shoes and have found hope for a better path for troubled teens.
We would like to introduce a few more of our 8 Core Values to help shed light on how we provide a nurturing environment for a better path for troubled teens.
So let’s get to it…
Forgiveness: I will forgive everyone, including those that have hurt me.
Forgiveness is a powerful component of what we teach here at ERA.
It frees your children from the power of other individual’s actions to dictate how they feel, what they think, and their choices.
It is freedom.
Forgiveness puts them in the driver’s seat of their life.
And in the case of Chris Williams, that happened to be literally true.
Chris and his pregnant wife and children were hit by a teen drunk driver in 2007. His wife, unborn child, son and daughter were killed instantly. Chris and his son survived. Thankfully, one of his other children was not in the car that night.
How do you make sense of a loss like that?
To have a family torn apart in seconds by an irresponsible teen no less?
Chris’ loss was devastating.
But he knew, while still in the car, knowing his wife was dead, that he had to “let it go”.
That choice to let it go and forgive has inspired thousands, maybe even millions, to help others make the choice to forgive and get through past hurts, abuses, and offenses.
Chris was able to receive peace about his situation, ultimately heal, and offer hope to many who were hurting, including the teen that caused it all.
Chris’s forgiveness of the teen that killed his family helped that teen be able to take accountability, change, and move on in life. Today, he has turned his life around and speaks heart-to-heart with many teens- helping pave the way for a better path for troubled teens.
His actions have come full circle and he invites others to take accountability for their actions and be wise about their choices.
Forgiveness changes many teen’s lives here at Eagle Ranch Academy and gives them the opportunity to start fresh.
The second value I would like to share today is
ACCEPTANCE: I will Accept who I am and not seek the Acceptance of others.
This is powerful.
I mean, isn’t this the root of teen existence anyway- trying to make sense of life and who they are in the world and their place in it?
If a teen can recognize who they are and not need acceptance from others, they will be able to accept themselves and likely make more grounded choices.
A lot of teens we see may have problems with self-harm behaviors.
When children and teens reject themselves or don’t know how to deal with pain, they may resort to harmful behavior for themselves.
This comes in various forms- it can involve cutting, as well as other risky behavior that can recklessly put their life and others at risk.
Acceptance brings meaning and adds value to their life.
It helps them have better self-esteem and more confidence to make good choices and build a life with meaning and purpose.
Acceptance is an intrinsic value that in the right, healthy conditions, can be nurtured, exposed, and encouraged to grow within. It can also be discovered.
And it creates a better path for troubled teens.
Here at Eagle Ranch we have seen the power of Acceptance grow in a young teen like the slow blossom of a flower- as personal acceptance blooms- so does their joy, their smile, their light, and they are able to have healthier emotional boundaries and experiences with their peers and parents as well.
It is a miracle to watch.
For our next powerful Core Values that are fundamental to the air we breathe here at Eagle Ranch, come see our post next week.